Indians drop pitcher’s duel to Eagles

Wednesday

Apr 17, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 17, 2013 at 12:04 AM

Pontiac baseball

Erich Murphy

Trent Smith pitched well enough to win, but Rantoul’s Kolton Vermillion was a little bit better on Thursday afternoon as the visiting Eagles edged Pontiac 4-2 at Williamson Field. Smith allowed no earned runs in the Corn Belt Conference baseball contest. He struck out four and walked one. But four errors on defense and only two hits on offense doomed the Tribe. “He competed pretty well,” PTHS head coach Stephen Kraft said of Smith. “He kept us in the game, we just didn’t make plays behind him. If we make those plays, it’s a winnable game.” Smith was dodging trouble in the first two innings as the Eagles had a runner reach second in the opening frame and had runners on second and third with two outs in the second. Rantoul tagged Smith for back-to-back singles to open the third. A strikeout followed and then a throwing error by shortstop Neil Lambert allowed Cord Church to score the first run of the game for RHS. A groundout plated another run to make it 2-0. Smith settled in after the singles. Only three fly outs left the infield after the base hits until the seventh inning. Pontiac committed four errors in the game, the last two in the seventh when Rantoul padded its lead. Two groundouts to third baseman Dallas Burns started the RHS seventh. An error on a fly ball to right and an error by Burns led to Vermillion’s sharp double to left that scored both runners and make it 4-1. Vermillion gave up a hard-hit opposite-field single to PTHS leadoff hitter Lambert in the bottom of the first and did not allow another hit before leaving after six innings of work. “He threw gas, he was working in the mid to high 80s at times,” Kraft said of Vermillion. “He’s going to be one of the toughest pitchers we see all year. We’re not used to seeing a guy with that speed.” But the Tribe did manage to make Vermillion work. Aaron Jiles was hit by a pitch and Smith coaxed a walk in the second inning. Jacob Curry drew a free pass in the third and Lambert reached on an error in the fifth. It was the sixth when the Indians had their best scoring opportunity. Jason Priest walked to lead off the sixth and Brooks Seal came on as a courtesy runner for the Pontiac catcher. Kye Comincioli, who entered the game after centerfielder Jon Roberts injured his should while diving for a line drive in the second inning, also walked to put runners on first and second. Jiles put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up. RHS third baseman Curtis Crow tried to make a play third on Seal but the throw got away and Jiles reached to load the bases. Eric Keller lofted a fly to center to drive in Seal with Pontiac’s first run. The Indians threatened again in the seventh off reliever Luke Pannbacker. Lambert walked with one out and Priest walked with two outs. Comincioli delivered the Tribe’s second hit of the game to drive in Lambert and make it 4-2. Jiles’ slicing fly to left ended the game. “We did put the ball in play and gave ourselves a chance,” Kraft said. “We just had some errors that took us out of it. They made plays when it counted and we didn’t.” Lambert and Comincioli had Pontiac’s two hits. The Indians (5-10-1) left nine runners on base. Rantoul stranded seven base runners. Pontiac is scheduled to travel to Bloomington to face Central Catholic at McGraw Field Thursday.